Baltimore City Wire

A recent poll found most Maryland educators are paying for school supplies out of their own pockets, despite being in debt and paying back student loans.

Nearly 37 percent of educators in the state have student debt, with 21 percent of them owning more than $25,000. Almost half of educators under the age of 50 have student debt, while 51 percent of educators of color have student debt.

When asked if educators had purchased school supplies with their own money, an overwhelming 91 percent answered that they had. Forty-one percent work a second job to make ends meet and 34 percent run-up personal debt to make ends meet, the poll states.

Adam Mendelson | Mendelson's LinkedIn profile

The poll shows that too many educators are under financial strain simply for doing a job they love and trying to make their communities a better place, Maryland State Education Association Assistant Executive Director of Communications Adam Mendelson said.

"When four in 10 educators are working second jobs to make ends meet and nine in 10 are buying school supplies that their students otherwise wouldn't have, something's wrong and needs to be fixed," Mendelson told the Baltimore City Wire.

Mendelson said over the next year, Maryland has a once-in-a-generation opportunity to end the underfunding of the state's public schools.

"An independent analysis overseen by the State Department of Education found that Maryland public schools are annually underfunded by $2.9 billion, or an average of $2 million in every school," he said. "Next year, the Maryland General Assembly will debate the upcoming recommendations of the state's Kirwan Commission, ultimately revising the state's school funding formula for the first time in nearly 20 years."

This is Maryland's opportunity to relieve the strain on educators and make sure that every student in every neighborhood has a great public school and an equal opportunity for success, Mendelson said.

"The benefits that an outstanding public education system has for our state, our economy, and the future success of our young people are overwhelming," he said. "We can't afford not to address the $2.9 billion in annual underfunding of our schools; the long-term negative impact on our state and our students would be immense."

Mendelson said while educators are stretched thin by working second jobs, taking on debt and buying school supplies out of their own pockets, students are clearly hurt as well.

"Our poll found that 69 percent of Maryland educators agree with the statement 'my school does not have the funding we need to help every student be successful,'" Mendelson said. "As a state, we need to do better for our students and educators and we will look to the Kirwan Commission, state legislators and local officials to help solve these problems and end the underfunding of our schools.